Weight loss will be followed by health problems, hair loss, and skin deterioration. But not in this case. The Mediterranean diet helps to lose weight, rejuvenate and improve overall well-being.
The essence of the Mediterranean diet
This is the only diet approved by UNESCO that is truly recognized as a safe weight loss system. On the contrary, it is able to improve the general condition of the body, does not contradict the canons of proper nutrition, but has its own approach to diet. The classic Mediterranean diet includes many foods that are banned by other weight loss systems.
The essence of the diet is the daily use of food, it is in the diet of the inhabitants of the Mediterranean. Obese and obese people are rare among Spaniards, Italians, Libyans and Moroccans. These countries have low mortality rates from cancer and cardiovascular disease. They are ahead in terms of life expectancy of the local population.
What are the benefits of a Mediterranean diet?
This system was not invented by nutritionists, it was not created in laboratories, but it was formed over the centuries in certain places. The Mediterranean diet does not contain artificial foods, preservatives, semi-finished products, which already have a positive effect on human health.
Advantages of this diet:
- Prevents cardiovascular diseases, lowers cholesterol, dissolves existing plaques, prevents blood clots and the development of atherosclerosis.
- Maintains clarity of mind, has a positive effect on brain function. This diet can prevent Alzheimer's disease.
- Eating according to this system can prevent stomach, colon and breast cancer.
- Lowers blood sugar levels, prevents the development of diabetes, and is resistant to insulin.
- Boosts immunity, promotes rapid recovery from serious illnesses and long-term medications.
It is based on foods that give strength and have a positive effect on the emotional background. It is believed that the Mediterranean miracle diet affects not only longevity but also quality. Only an energetic, cheerful and active person can live 100% every day.
Basic principles of nutrition
The myth that food is expensive under this system must be dispelled immediately. The Mediterranean cleansing diet is rich in a variety of nutrients. It’s not just about eating shrimp or gourmet fish, you can always choose budget analogues.
Basic principles:
- Without getting enough fat, these are not fried sausages or pies in a pan. This is a useful extra virgin olive oil. You can safely water salads and other foods without worrying about the caloric content of your daily diet.
- Lots of vegetables and fruits. The Mediterranean diet also provides grapes and bananas, which are banned by other systems. Plant foods should be included in every meal.
- Dairy foods. It is necessary to pay attention to natural yogurt, boiled milk, fermented boiled milk. No need to use sugar, dyes, sour milk products. You can always add fruit or honey if you wish.
- Fish and seafood. Like vegetables, this category is the basis of the diet. These products should be on the daily menu.
- White meat. You do not need to use it much, 3-4 times a week is enough, less. You can eat chicken, rabbit, quail heart, and sometimes lamb.
- Cereals. The Mediterranean diet may include brown rice, pasta made from durum wheat, buckwheat, and pearl barley. Beans are a must.
- Red wine. You can drink up to two glasses a day, served with lunch or dinner. It is important to choose a natural wine that does not contain preservatives or excess sugar.
- An egg. Yes, but not more than once a day
- All kinds of natural spices, fresh and dried herbs are accepted. You can eat nuts and seeds.
- Bread and rye cakes are bread cakes.
It is important to drink not only wine (although it is very pleasant), but also clean water during the Mediterranean diet. The minimum daily volume is 1. 5 liters. Green tea, natural fruit drinks from fresh fruits, lemon juice are accepted. Don't just add sugar or honey and turn healthy drinks into a source of carbohydrates. The taste buds need to be cleaned.
Weight loss rate and duration
This system does not promise to lose 15 kg in a month and 40 kg in half a year. The weight in the Mediterranean diet is gradually released without stress. With the right approach, a person loses 3-4 kg per month, but it all depends on the initial data.
If you have a Mediterranean diet for weight loss for a long time, then very quickly your old habits will be forgotten, other foods will take the place of your favorite foods, and a proper diet will become a way of life. The Mediterranean diet is not limited in time, it can be observed at any time, because people in Morocco, Italy, Greece and Spain eat similar dishes.
List of prohibited products
Diets for weight loss Medium diet can be created independently, the following are the approximate menu options. The main thing is not to add forbidden foods. This is especially true of spices mixed with refined sunflower oil, sugar, glutamate and other preservatives.
What not to diet:
- sausages, hams, semi-finished products;
- pure sugar, limited honey;
- sweet drinks, sweets, ready-made desserts;
- any confectionery made of white flour;
- lard, bacon, fatty meat and dairy products.
The easiest way to make sure you don't make mistakes is to cook your own food. Cafes and restaurants often use cheap fats instead of fresh vegetables, low-quality meat and fish.
Mediterranean diet for weight loss: menu for each day
Here is an example of how to eat in this system. Then you can adjust the diet to your work or study schedule, to your personal taste. Plus, you don’t have to eat different foods every day, you can do something for a few lunches or dinners.
The Mediterranean diet for weight loss includes minimal processed foods. Prolonged cooking, baking and marinating reduces the amount of nutrients. It does not take much time to prepare simple cereals, soups and salads.
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | avocado toast with mozzarella, tomatoes, tea | Pot of cottage cheese with banana, tea | eggs, mozzarella and 10 cherries in pieces | whole grain bread, cheese slices, 2 cucumbers | brown rice with cheese and herbs | Pasta with shrimp and cheese | Omelet with green beans and tomatoes |
| Snack | light brown | a glass of tomato juice | fruit salad with yogurt | soft cottage cheese | grapes | Orange juice | pineapple |
| The dinner | Cooked vegetables with chicken, a large bunch of vegetables | Cream soup with shrimp | Cancer with meat, tomato juice | Soup with mussels and cheese | Fresh tomatoes gazpacho, a piece of grilled fish | Broccoli soup with fried shrimp | brown rice, squid in sour cream, vegetable juice |
| afternoon tea | apples, cottage cheese | smoothies with vegetables | a glass of yogurt | Puts vegetables with olives | Fruit salad with nuts and yogurt | tuna toast, any juice | a piece of bread, salted fish, tea |
| The dinner | pasta with seafood and cheese, vegetables | brown rice pilaf with chicken and vegetables | Fish cooked with rice, vegetable salad | cooked chicken, carrot and cheese salad | Pasta with mussels with green beans | Fry the fish with tomatoes and vegetables | Pasta with shrimp, cherry tomatoes and sour cream |
Remember that all diet foods are prepared with olive oil, which is also used to decorate salads, you can add lemon juice and various spices. You can also add a glass of red wine to any dish.
According to the classic Mediterranean diet, the number of meals is unlimited, but do not overeat. Most menu options consist of five. You can add extra dinner or remove the second breakfast, this is another snack.
Mediterranean diet for weight loss: menu for each day
Many people say that the Mediterranean diet is very expensive, and the quality of frozen seafood is much desired. It is also difficult to find real olive oil. However, in this case it can be replaced with other unrefined oils. Suitable for flaxseed, walnut and cannabis oil from pumpkin seeds. You can use coconut oil in your diet.
Remember that the Mediterranean diet (menu for the week below) includes economical ways to cook. Any amount of oil can be used, but only for refueling. You can grease the product on the grill or in the oven. You can't use it for frying, it's better to cook the food in a dry pan or lightly grease it with the thinnest layer.
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | Zucchini Fritters with garlic and sour cream sauce | raisin pot | oats with walnuts | cheese sandwich, boiled egg, tea | Pumpkin porridge with rice | muesli with yogurt | sandwich with fish |
| Snack | a banana | grapefruit | Pomegranate | Apple | vegetable salad | fruit juice, eggs | pumpkin puree |
| The dinner | Fish soup without potatoes from any fish, rye bread | a piece of boiled vegetables, toast, boiled meat | vegetable soup, a slice of fish, a slice of bread | Pasta with cheese and squid, vegetables | Cream soup, tortillas with chicken and vegetables | Cabbage soup with fish broth with beans | Baked vegetables with beans, a little salted herring |
| afternoon tea | yogurt | fruit and milk smoothies | cottage cheese with apples | fruit salad | cucumber and herb smoothies | cottage cheese with walnuts | tomato juice |
| The dinner | Greek salad with cheese and olives | fish cakes (baked, baked), salad dressing | Carrot salad with pasta and cheese, nuts | Cucumber salad with fish, sour cream and dill stuffed with vegetables | buckwheat and tomatoes with chicken | Fry the chicken in sour cream and put in a salad | grilled vegetables, a slice of pike |
There are almost no seafood on the Mediterranean diet menu, but you can sometimes include them in your diet if you wish. For example, add shrimp to a salad or have a seafood cocktail as a snack.
Mediterranean diet: recipes from the menu for the week
There are many interesting dishes on the diet menu above, and they are both simple and quick to prepare. They are great for morning, afternoon and dinner. Here are the most interesting recipes.
Sour cream soup with chicken and vegetables
In the Mediterranean diet, sour cream soup is often on the menu of the week. They are good for the stomach, well fed and easy to prepare. Here is the basic recipe with vegetables.
Ingredients:
- 300 g of chicken meat;
- 300 g of broccoli (you can cauliflower);
- 100 g of carrots;
- 100 g of onions;
- 200 g of pumpkin or squash;
- cream 150-200 ml;
- depending on the taste.
Put up:
- Imitate chicken, soak in 800 ml of boiling water, then add carrots and onions and cook for 10 minutes.
- Enter the zucchini, broccoli and lightly salt after another five minutes. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes.
- Chop the chicken with vegetables, add spices to taste. Dilute the soup with sour cream, boil it again and you are ready to serve!
In winter, you can use a frozen vegetable mixture for such soups. You also don't need to dilute the food with sour cream, you can add a little more water at first.
Pasta with cheese and squid
This dish is on the menu above for each day to lose weight on a Mediterranean diet. Buying squid from the store is not a problem now, but it is very simple and quick to prepare.
Ingredients:
- 1 squid;
- 200 g of pasta;
- cream 10% 150 ml;
- 0, 5 teaspoons of olive oil;
- 70 g of cheese.
Put up:
- Cook the pasta according to the instructions, but cook for less than a minute. Put it on the mouse.
- Heat a frying pan, add oil and sprinkle a little.
- We clean the squid, remove the ridge and cut it into strips. Pour and fry for literally a minute, be sure to stir with a spatula.
- Pour sour cream into the squid, bring to a boil, start with half of the grated cheese, melt and salt.
- Add the paste, mix quickly, bring the dish to a boil and turn off. Leave under the lid for ten minutes.
- Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
You can also prepare a sauce with scorpions or other seafood for the diet. The only thing is to use low-fat sour cream to avoid increasing the calories in your food.
Greek salad with cheese and olives
This salad is a great substitute for lunch and dinner in the diet, especially in summer. It fully meets the requirements of the diet.
Ingredients:
- 2 cucumbers;
- 2 tomatoes;
- 0, 5 red onions;
- 1 pepper;
- 15 ml of lemon juice;
- 1 pinch of pepper;
- 100 g of feta cheese;
- 2 tablespoons oil (olive);
- 10-12 olives.
Put up:
- Imitate the cucumber. We take seeds from tomatoes and imitate them. Cut red onions into very thin half rings. Pour into salad bowl.
- Cut the pepper into thin strips, cut the feta and a quarter of the olives and add to the rest of the ingredients.
- Mix lemon juice with oil and add salt and pepper. Pour over salad. Stir in serving.
You can add any vegetables you want and use cherry tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes, or you can replace olive oil with Greek yogurt. It also makes a wonderful sauce.
Mediterranean diet for the elderly
As mentioned earlier, a Mediterranean diet can help prevent Alzheimer's disease. It has a beneficial effect on the brain and helps to get rid of the defects of aging. Also, eating under this system has a great effect on other internal organs, but it is recommended to give up wine in old age, as well as to change the composition of some foods. Here is a sample menu for a week of Mediterranean diet for the elderly. It meets all the requirements of the aging organism.
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | oats with raisins | Oven-baked cheesecakes, fruit puree | Steam omelette with green beans | cereal porridge with pumpkin | pumpkin pie, sour cream | omelet with fish fillets | Fruit and cottage cheese |
| Snack | pumpkin puree | light brown | Apple juice | a piece of soft cheese | vegetable salad | Beijing cabbage salad with olives, lemon and herbs | Salad with carrots and walnuts |
| The dinner | cooked vegetables, chopped fish cutlet | vegetable soup, a slice of fish | buckwheat soup without potatoes | chicken soup puree, black bread | Soup with rice and tomatoes, compote | Casserole with cauliflower and cheese | cauliflower soup, bread |
| afternoon tea | cottage cheese | a glass of kefir | banana and yogurt smoothies | tomato juice | cottage cheese | Vegetable smoothies with leafy vegetables | any fruit |
| The dinner | buckwheat with fish cutlets and tomato sauce | Boil vegetables with fish | vegetable salad, chicken cutlet | cooked fish, vegetable puree | Chicken cooked with pasta | fish aspirin, 10 olives, 1 tomato | chicken, brown rice, tomato juice |
Mediterranean diet
First review, female, 34 years old
I've been on this diet for the second year, I'm used to it, I don't want red meat, I've given up animal fats, but I've added chia seeds to my main diet, and I use quinoa instead of rice. At all times, my weight dropped from 82 to 57 kg. Everything happened gradually, not all at once. I noticed that my clothes were getting bigger and my stomach was getting smaller, and I liked the scales.
Second review, female, 25 years old
It all started out strange to me, I first saw a menu for a week with a diet diet weight loss recipes from a friend, and only then did I start to wonder what this system was all about. I liked it right away, everything is simple, there is no need to cook anything complicated, for me. We mostly sat with my friend, he supported me, but came out first in the race. I was in the fifth month of my diet, my health improved significantly, I became alert, I slept well and lost 9 kg. However, the initial weight was small (164 cm 67 kg).
Third review, female, 47 years old
I have never been overweight, but menopause came very early. From the age of 44, I began to gain weight quickly, resulting in +20 kg per year. The endocrinologist told me about the diet, I really liked the idea of such a diet, but I adapted it a bit, for example, I refused wine. I can't drink it, my body can't handle it, it's always heartburn. But I allow myself to drink pomegranate juice.
Fourth review, female, 38 years old
I heard from my doctor about the "wonderful" Mediterranean diet, so I decided to study this diet and gradually switch to it. I didn’t have a schedule Monday. I just gradually replaced regular meals with systematic meals. My goal was to improve my health because there are so many chronic diseases and hereditary risks. In parallel, I lost 11 kg.
Contraindications to diet
Despite the high marks, awards, and many positive reviews, the Mediterranean system has conflicting performance.
Who should not diet:
- In people with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, high levels of fiber can cause the disease;
- People with serious illnesses and surgeries.
Also, do not follow this diet if you cannot tolerate fish or seafood. Everyone should evaluate in advance how close the diet is, and how to follow such a diet on the menu of an intermediate diet for weight loss for a long time.